Brisbane punk band Gun of Ishiki are only two shows in, but their story stretches back more than 30 years to Sydney share houses, chefs, pots and pans and the 1990s punk scene. Catch them at The Presynct in Nambour on October 23.

Drummer and manager Jeff Campbell told YELO the group has spent the past three years playing in sheds and garages, working through different singers before the current line-up came together.

For Campbell, it started long before that.

He lived with lifelong mates Steve McQueen and Ben O’Donoghue in a Newtown share house in the early 1990s, when Campbell and O’Donoghue were both working as chefs. Today, Gun of Ishiki is Steve McQueen, Bruce “The GOAT”, O’Donoghue and Jeff “Chopper” Campbell.

Jeff Campbell, Ben O’Donoghue and Steve McQueen on tour in Tasmania, circa 1994–95. Photo: Supplied.

“I was hitting some pots and pans, literally, and my cousin’s mate was very handy on a guitar. He said I should get a drum kit, so I did, and it pretty much started from that.”

Within about three months they had a band. Campbell was 18 and had only been drumming for a few months when they played their first show on a bill with Nitocris and Toe To Toe.

“It was fucking packed. I was 18, so nervous, only been playing for three or four months.”

The chef in the share house

And yes, it is that Ben O’Donoghue, Campbell’s old Sydney housemate who went on to become one of Australia’s best-known television chefs, including co-hosting the ABC food and travel series Surfing the Menu with Curtis Stone.

O’Donoghue has since built a long career in food and television, making the pair’s beginnings as young chefs in a Sydney share house an unlikely early chapter in the Gun of Ishiki story.

Campbell said O’Donoghue later played a gig alongside John “JC” Collins of Powderfinger, now Queensland’s Night-Life Economy Commissioner, and Pat Davern from Grinspoon at a 40th birthday, while O’Donoghue, Steve and Campbell reunited for a few birthday shows of their own.

The idea that eventually became Gun of Ishiki was simple: if Campbell ever moved to Brisbane, they would start a band.

So they did.

There is another unusual part to Gun of Ishiki’s arrival. Before releasing a single recorded track, the Brisbane-based band has already played The Triffid and The Brightside and built an Instagram audience of more than 4,000 followers.

It makes them look further along than their release history suggests, but the band itself has been taking shape behind the scenes for years.

Three years in a shed, then straight to The Triffid

After several years of rehearsing and trying different line-ups, Bruce joined about six months ago and things began moving quickly. The band describes his experience and punk-rock pedigree as the missing piece.

Campbell says they now have around 11 or 12 songs, with new music due for release soon and an EP planned by December. He told YELO the first release would include ‘People Are Monsters’, with ‘Murder in the Dark’ and ‘Stuntman’ also among the tracks the band has discussed for release.

Then came an unusual milestone for a new band: their first live show was at Brisbane institution The Triffid.

“Who has ever done their first show at The Triffid?! That’s going down in the history books.”

Campbell now finds himself not only behind the drum kit but managing the band, booking shows and doing artwork.

“I actually missed my calling. I was meant to be in the music business, it just didn’t make enough money back in those days. No regrets. Here we are, combined age of 217. I actually fucking love it. Why not have a crack?”

It is a fitting line for a band whose roots stretch from Sydney kitchens and 90s punk bills to garages and a first show at The Triffid.

“When other people say you should be doing this, I guess why the fuck not!”

Gun of Ishiki’s Brisbane and Sunshine Coast shows

Gun of Ishiki played their second show at The Brightside last night, another sizeable Brisbane room ticked off before the band has released its first recorded track.

They are also booked at The Presynct on Friday, October 23, alongside Graveyard Club, Call The Mourning and Blisterr.

Campbell is also developing a two-night fundraiser at Crowbar for January 8 and 9, with plans to involve local artists and other creative elements. He told YELO the event is intended to support mental-health awareness and Bravehearts, with details still being worked through.

Photo supplied by Gun of Ishiki.